Author: TheStateLine

Quetta, Dec 24 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation expressed serious concern over the alarming rise in enforced disappearances of women in Balochistan by Pakistan’s security forces and intelligence agencies.According to the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), as many as 12 women have been abducted this year alone, reflecting a deepening human rights crisis in the province. The latest cases include Hazra, an eight-months-pregnant Hani, and 17-year-old Hair Nisa.“These acts violate Pakistan’s Constitution and its obligations under international law, including Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Tortur...

Washington, Dec 24, (IANS) A group of 127 US lawmakers has urged the Trump Administration to withdraw its proposed overhaul of the "public charge" rule, asserting that this would inject uncertainty into the legal immigration system, particularly for those families who are moving from H-1B visas to Green Cards.As many as 110 Congressmen and 17 Senators, in a letter, called on the Department of Homeland Security to abandon the proposal and retain the existing 2022 public charge regulations, arguing that the current framework provides clarity, fairness, and consistency for immigrant families and adjudicators."The proposed public charge rule will lead to mass uncertainty, disparate and arbitrary outcomes for individuals applying for permanent status or admission into our country, and undue har...

Sydney, Dec 24 (IANS) Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had asked the governor-general to institute a special honors list for first responders and other heroes from the Bondi fatal mass shooting, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Wednesday. Albanese said that the recipients, who would be announced in 2026, would include police, medical staff, and members of the community who rushed to help in the wake of the terror attack.He said that those who had risked their own safety to help strangers deserved public recognition.The mass shooting, which targeted an event celebrating the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, killed 15 victims on December 14, Xinhua news agency reported.The parliament of Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) had pas...